Good Enough
by Queenafoster
Summary: Another history making discovery...
1. Chapter 1

**Notes: So there's the Small Fandoms Fest that has prompts. I never officially claimed any of them because I write so slow, but I have used a couple in this story. "Phone calls in the middle of the night were never good news" and "Brothers in every way by blood." They come later in the story. All errors are mine, and of course, I own nothing, gain nothing, etc.**

" _Mimi_ to _Riptide_ , come in _Riptide_ , over."

Cody dropped his pen on the table. He'd been working on the report for their last client and was glad for the interruption. He picked up the CB receiver, " _Riptide_ here. Go ahead, _Mimi_."

"We're on our way back. Should be landing in about an hour."

Cody smiled, hearing the fatigue in his partner's voice. Served the idiot right for booking two four-hour harbor tours in one day. "Good flight?"

"Yeah, good visibility and guests with lots of questions. _Mimi's_ had a great day."

Cody managed not to snicker. Just because _Mimi_ had had a great day so far didn't mean that she would continue to do so. And though her pilot appreciated good visibility and a well behaved machine, chatty tourists occasionally got on his nerves—especially when he was tired. Still, a lively, amiable pilot got better tips than a surly, sarcastic one, so Cody would bet good money that _Mimi's_ pilot would continue to be on his best, plastic, tour-guide behavior. "You want us to pick you up? I saw you left 'Vette here."

"I just needed a little exercise after dinner last night, but don't worry about picking me up; I've been sitting practically all day. Need to stretch my legs. See ya in a bit. _Mimi_ out."

Cody put the receiver down and leaned down over the front stairs. "That was Nick, Boz. He'll be back in an hour or so."

"Okay. I should be done with this soldering by then, and we can get something to eat."

Nick sighed in relief, watching his tourists get in their car. He threw up his hand one last time as the two kids waved at him like they were trying to start a fire. Once he saw the back of their station wagon leave the parking lot, he dropped his head and breathed a sigh of relief. It had been a very, very long day. He really just wanted to go back to the boat, grab a shower, and hit the sack. If he hadn't told Cody he'd be back soon, he might've just curled up on _Mimi's_ sofa and gone to sleep right there.

But he had work to do. He climbed in the hold and eyed the couch with longing before cleaning out the stuff left from two tours. A couple of soda cups and garbage from McDonalds. Once the hold was straightened, he stuck his head up in the cockpit and grabbed his own few leftovers of the day. He hated a dirty chopper.

Back out on the helipad, he walked around to _Mimi's_ off side to check the holes he'd patched and painted last week. A recent case had left six bullets in her left flank, and he wanted to make sure everything looked ship shape again. Sometimes, different lighting could make a patch job stand out like a full moon on a clear night. He ran his hand over the areas, not seeing—

His inspection was interrupted by someone jumping in the hold and sliding the door shut. He stood there for a second, wishing he had a gun, but he hadn't brought one today, knowing he was taking up kids. Kids got into everything—especially stuff they were specifically told not to touch—so he'd left all the weapons at home. And the car was back at the boat. Damn.

He sidled around _Mimi's_ tail and checked out the parking lot. No cars, no one waiting or watching that he could see. He edged up _Mimi's_ flank and tapped a knuckle on the door. "I know you're in there. Come on out."

His answer was silence for a few seconds, then he heard a nervous, "Nick?"

It sounded vaguely familiar and, clearly, she knew him, so he pulled open the door. He stood there feeling like someone had hit him with a chair. "Melba?"

Murray's knockout beautiful sister glanced nervously around the parking area behind Nick and then motioned him into the hold. "I wasn't expecting anyone to be here this late in the day."

"What are you doing here? What's going on?"

"Where're Scooter and Cory?"

Nick didn't even bother correcting her on Cody's name. That was a hopeless cause. "They're on the boat; what's wrong?"

She hesitated for a couple of seconds, then, "Some people are after me."

"Who?"

"I wrote a paper that these guys don't want published."

"Who?"

She bit her lip and winced slightly, "I don't want to tell you."

Nick lifted a skeptical brow. This was starting to sound a little fishy. "Why not?"

"Right now, they're only after me; I don't want to get you in trouble. Or Scooter."

Nick pointed a finger at her pert little nose, "Look, I'm not gonna fall for any of your jokes, Melba. No pranks. I'm not doing it."

She grabbed his finger and sighed, looking put upon. "I swear it's not a joke. I'm not kidding."

Nick narrowed his eyes, trying to discern if she was pulling his leg. Again. But she seemed sincere. And maybe a little scared. "Then we need to go back to the boat."

"No!" She took a deep breath, "Nick, I don't want Boz to know about this. I nearly got him blown up the last time I asked him for help. I'd never forgive myself if something happened to him because of me."

Nick blinked in astonishment, "You think he's gonna feel any better if something happens because you didn't come to him?"

Melba switched her grip on his finger to encompass his whole hand, gently massaging it. "It's hard to explain, but he's already kind of involved anyway—he just doesn't know it yet. And I don't want him to get hurt any more than he's already going to be."

"Murray's gonna be hurt? Who's after you?" Nick's intensity ratcheted up a notch with a threat to one of his partners.

Melba rubbed her forehead in frustration, "Not physically hurt—you know I'd never let that happen. That's why we can't go to him now. I didn't even plan on you finding out about this. I just need a safe place for tonight till I can get a handle on this."

Nick had no idea what was going on—this woman made him crazy. But still, if he'd had a sister, he imagined she'd be a lot like Melba—except for the dumb jokes. The Bozinsky sense of humor wasn't something he'd ever understand. And he still wasn't sure that this wasn't a prank. But on the off chance it wasn't… "Okay. Okay. No boat. No Boz." He thought for a second, "Look, it's not safe here, but I got a friend. I think she'd let you stay with her."

"No, Nick. I don't want to put anyone else in danger."

"She's a cop. And she's got a house, so it'd be a heck of a lot safer than here."

Melba considered for half a second. "How do we get there?"

"The quickest way is my car back at the pier, but Boz and Cody are waiting for me."

"No!"

"Okay, so if we go the other direction, it'll take a little longer, but we may be able to catch a bus about a mile from here."

Melba glanced out the crack in the hatch door as dusk descended on the empty parking area. "Okay. Let's do it."

Nick took a careful view of the parking lot, too. He didn't see anything, but Melba's paranoia was rubbing off on him. If she was playing the biggest practical joke ever on him, he would kill her himself. He didn't like the idea of not telling Murray, but Melba's concern over Boz being hurt made Nick hesitate in following his instincts. And not having a gun made him feel naked and vulnerable.

He slid the door back and hopped down after a moment of observation. He turned around and helped Melba out and slid the door shut. He gripped her hand, and the two of them took off across the parking lot.


	2. Chapter 2

Cody stared out the salon window at the increasingly dark evening. Looking up the companionway, he could see the glowing light over their gate, the fish market, some of the other businesses on the pier…and still no Nick who was now over thirty minutes past due.

Of course, it wasn't like his partner was never late; sure he was from time to time. But he'd sounded tired on the radio, and Cody didn't think he'd even been in the mood for dinner. And without a car, it didn't seem like the best night to run errands. So, Cody was…well, a _little_ concerned anyway.

Murray bounced up from below, pulling on his corduroy jacket. "Hey. Nick here?"

"Not yet."

The phone rang, and Murray snagged the receiver. "Riptide Detective Agency."

Cody glanced back out the window, hoping to see his partner striding through the gate.

"Just a second," Murray seemed concerned as he handed Cody the receiver. "It's for you."

Not liking the look on Murray's face, he took the phone. "Cody Allen."

"Mr. Allen, this is the emergency department at Harbor Memorial. We have a Nicholas Ryder here, and you're listed as his emergency contact and next-of-kin."

Cody's throat went dry as he tried to catch his breath. That damn chopper finally went wheels up and took Nick with her. And what about his passengers? "Is he okay?"

"Well, he has some injuries. Will you be able to come down?"

Distracted with worry, Cody nodded then realized that she couldn't see him. "Uh, sure. What about the other people? Are they okay?"

She was quiet for a second or two. "Uh…I believe he was alone."

Huh? Cody didn't waste time asking questions. Explanations could wait. "We'll be right there."

Murray was standing close by, watching in concern. "What is it?"

"Nick's in the E.R. Let's go." He grabbed the keys to the Jimmy and headed up to the wheel house.

"Is he all right? What happened?"

By this time, Cody was vaulting over the side of the boat and jogging up the companionway. "She just said he was hurt. I didn't get the details. Had to be that damn chopper though."

Murray jumped in the passenger seat of the Jimmy as Cody cranked the key. "What about his passengers?"

"She said he was alone."

Murray looked confused, "That doesn't make sense, Cody. Why would he go back up again after landing his tour? Unless he went back out for fuel."

"I don't know, Murray, I don't know!" Cody tried to control his anxious breathing.

Murray reached over to rub his shoulder. "Okay, take it easy. Just try to stay calm. Did she say if he was okay?"

"Just that he was hurt." Cody appreciated that Murray was trying to soothe him, but that just wasn't going to happen—not till he knew Nick was all right. Then he'd finally get to say _I told you so_ about that old pink deathtrap, and everything could get back to normal. Or what passed for normal on their boat anyway.

The drive seemed to take forever but was probably only a few minutes by the time Cody screeched to a halt in the parking lot of the hospital. He and Boz rushed to the desk in the E.R. "Nick Ryder? Someone called me."

The woman glanced through the pages on her clipboard. "Here it is. Are you Mr. Allen?" At Cody's anxious nod, she pointed to the waiting room, "Just have a seat, someone will be right with you."

Cody was about to protest, but Murray pulled at his arm and motioned for the chairs. Cody looked back at the lady who was now on the phone saying Mr. Ryder's family had arrived. He hesitated, but Boz tugged again, looking more determined. Finally, Cody let himself be led to the bench closest to the desk.

They hadn't been sitting for more than a few minutes when a man wearing a white coat came out with a uniformed officer that Cody didn't recognize. Cody's heart rate hit new highs as he bolted to his feet. Murray stood beside him, tense.

"Mr. Allen?"

Cody nodded, "I'm Cody Allen; this is Murray Bozinsky. How's Nick?"

The doctor studied them for a second, "I'm Dr. Shattuck. He's not bad, considering."

"Considering what?" Cody braced himself for the news.

"How badly he was beaten."

Cody blinked in surprise. "Beaten? What the—? What happened?"

The doctor turned to the officer who glanced down at his pocket notebook. "The department got a call about a fight in an alley near PCH and 8th Avenue. When we got there, we found Mr. Ryder unconscious. It was a pretty severe beating."

Cody struggled to shift gears from a helicopter crash to a beating. "Wait a minute. PCH…and 8th?"

Murray stared at the officer in confusion, "What was he doing over there? That's the opposite direction from the boat."

"He _claims_ he was going to visit Lieutenant Joanna Parisi, and that he got jumped by four guys." The cop looked and sounded skeptical.

Cody glanced at Murray, "Joanna?"

Boz shrugged, "Did he say anything about going to see her when he radioed earlier?"

Bewildered, Cody shook his head and looked back at the officer.

"So you _do_ know Lieutenant Parisi?"

"Sure. Is she here? She can verify it."

He eyed them both as if trying to make up his mind. "I haven't contacted her yet. Mr. Ryder seemed confused and upset; I didn't want to bother her unnecessarily."

Murray squared his shoulders, "Well, you just call her. She'll confirm it." He turned to the doctor, "Can we see Nick? Is he okay?"

"He will be. Cracked ribs, a separated shoulder. Bruises and contusions. Slight head wound but no concussion. He's gonna need to take it easy for a while."

The officer flipped through the pages in his notebook, "Wait a minute; did you say your name was Bolinsky?"

Murray turned back, "Bo _zin_ sky _._ Why?"

The cop found what he was looking for. "Huh. Maybe he was telling the truth about that, too. Do you know a _Melba_ Bozinsky?"

Murray zeroed in on the officer, just as intense as Cody had been seconds ago. "That's my sister; what has she got to do with this?"

"Mr. Ryder claims she was with him and that the men who beat him took her. Kidnapped her."

" _Kidnapped her?"_

Cody just barely caught Murray's arm before he grabbed the cop's notebook. The officer stepped back, clearly surprised at skinny Murray becoming so aggressive. Murray tried to pull out of Cody's grip and only turned at the last second to see what was holding him back.

Cody looked back at his usually sweet tempered partner. "Easy."

Murray breathed hard and nodded briefly before turning back to the cop with slightly better control, but still pretty forceful. "Nick said Melba was with him?"

The officer looked back at Murray with a whole different level of respect. "That's what he said, but, again, he seemed confused, and he had been unconscious. There was no sign of a woman in the alley where he was found."

Murray started to bark more questions, but Cody moved to intervene, glancing at the man's nametag. "Look, Officer…Shields? Why don't you call Lieutenant Parisi, and we'll go see Nick. Maybe we can clear some of this up after we've talked to him."

Shields studied them both briefly, apparently still not sure if he should believe their story, but he finally nodded and headed to the desk. Cody and Murray turned to the doctor who motioned them back through swinging double doors.


	3. Chapter 3

"Get that cop back in here! He's gotta go look for those guys! They took my best friend's sister, don't you underst—"

"Mr. Ryder, please lie back and calm down. You won't do anyone any good if you injure yourself worse."

The doctor pointed them to a cubicle closed off by curtains, but it was abundantly clear where Nick was located. Murray surged ahead while Cody tried to keep up.

The curtains went flying as Murray burst through. "Nick?"

Cody finally caught sight of his missing partner…who looked back at Murray with sick eyes. "Boz, I—."

"What happened? BaBa was with you? What's going on?"

Nick opened his mouth to answer, but nothing came out. He gripped his forehead with his right hand and shook his head slightly. The left arm was enclosed in a sling. "Boz, I don't—"

"Nick, tell me what happened!"

Cody put a hand on Murray's forearm, "Easy. Let him answer."

Nick dropped his hand and glanced at Cody for the first time, eyes full of regret.

Damn. Damn, damn, damn.

Nick's eyes darted back in Murray's general vicinity. "Murray, she showed up at the helipad after my passengers left. She acted nervous and worried. Said some people were after her because of some paper she wrote."

"The helipad? That doesn't make sense, Nick!"

Cody switched to the other side of Nick's stretcher to get a better view of both partners. "Boz, this is a hospital; you gotta keep it down or they'll throw us out."

Murray nodded like Cody had just made the most ridiculous statement on Earth. But, of course, all Boz could think about right now was Melba.

Clearly, that was all Nick could think about as well. He looked miserable with cuts and bruises, dried blood and swelling distorting his face. And he wasn't moving much of anything except his right hand. Cody remembered what the doctor said…ribs, shoulder, head. Essentially, a bad beating, but guilt was clearly inflicting wounds that were invisible to medical personnel.

"She didn't want our help, Murray."

"Then why'd she go to the helipad?"

"She said she didn't think anyone would be there."

"Nick, I'm beginning to agree with that officer out there; you're confused!"

Nick looked desperate, "Murray, she said _you_ would be hurt by what she'd found out, and she didn't want to involve you after what happened last time."

"What happened last time is that we helped uncover one of the greatest secrets of World War II!"

"And she almost got you and all the rest of us killed. She _refused_ to go to the boat."

Murray rolled his eyes like he was dealing with a four year old. Who was stupid. "Nick, let me just repeat what I've got so far: Melba shows up, out of the blue, nervous and scared. She comes to _you_ for help, but not me, her own brother. And even though you _supposedly_ want her to come back to the boat—and us—she refuses because she doesn't want to put us in danger."

"Mostly she didn't want to hurt you."

"Which is the least sensible thing you've said. So you decide to walk her over to Joanna's even though these people are after her? And you got caught in an alley, these guys beat you up, and they kidnapped BaBa. Did I get it all or am I missing anything?" Murray was starting to sound a little hysterical.

Cody saw the effect it was having on Nick who looked like he'd prefer getting beaten.

"Except she didn't come to _me_ for help either. She said she didn't think anyone would be at the helipad."

"She comes to your helicopter and doesn't expect to find you? Give me a break, Nick."

"That's what she said. She wouldn't tell me what she was working on or who was after her. But she said _you_ —specifically—would be hurt by what she'd found out, and she didn't want to involve you. When I couldn't get her to go back to the boat, the only person I could think of was Joanna. Melba agreed to go to her place but insisted we stay away from the pier where you might see her. So we headed inland to hop a bus or grab a cab. I don't know how those guys found us, but…" His voice broke off.

Murray gripped the railing on the stretcher tightly as he stared at Nick. "I don't think I believe you. I've heard you shoot the bull too many times not to recognize when you're full of crap, Nick Ryder. I think you saw a chance to impress BaBa, an innocent young woman, while you're an experienced man of the world. And you took it."

Cody blinked in astonishment at Murray's idealized characterization of his man-eating sister, but Cody couldn't get in a word to stop the ongoing tirade.

"You wanted to be the big hero, to keep her away from Cody—and consequently _me_ —and so you decided to go it alone, dragging her across dangerous streets so you could look like a big shot.

"And who's paying for it? _My sister, that's who!_ Thanks to you, who knows what those blood thirsty goombas have done to her by now!" With that, Murray stormed back out of the cubicle, curtains fluttering in his wake.

Cody stared after him, stunned. Belatedly, he looked back at his partner still lying on the stretcher. Nick's eyes glittered with unshed tears, and he looked far worse than when they'd come in.

Cody laid a hand on Nick's thigh. "He didn't mean it; he's just worried and upset."

Nick turned slightly in Cody's direction, but he didn't raise his eyes. "He has every right to be. I let his sister get kidnapped."

"You know it's not that simple."

"What I know is she trusted me, and now she's missing. It's my fault."

"What else could you have done? Besides maybe get killed trying to protect her? That wouldn't have changed anything. She'd still be missing, but we wouldn't know anything except that you were dead."

"I should've made her go back to the boat. It's what I wanted to do, but she refused. I should've made her."

"I'd like to know how you would've managed that."

From outside the curtains, they heard Murray's raised voice, arguing.

Nick glanced up, "Go take care of him. He's gonna need someone to keep him straight."

Cody felt torn. Nick was busted in more ways than one right now, and he was flaying himself with guilt. "I can't leave you like this, not when—"

Nick closed his eyes like he'd just taken another hit. "I'm gonna be fine. Nothing broke that won't heal, but Boz needs someone to keep him steady. He's gonna go off the rails worried about her. And even if I could help him, he wouldn't want me around right now. It's gotta be you."

Cody looked back at his partner, knowing he was right but not liking his conclusion any better for its truth. Cody watched as Nick reached up with his good hand and rubbed his eyes and forehead. He looked whipped.

"You gonna be okay?"

Nick dropped his hand and finally looked Cody in the eye. The bleakness Cody saw there was gut-wrenching. But Nick nodded slightly and motioned for Cody to go with a lift of his chin. Full of misgivings about the decision, Cody finally started moving that way. As he got to the curtains, he glanced back and saw Nick hunched over with the effort required to silence his sobs.

"I _demand_ to see the alley where my sister was kidnapped! I have a right to know!"

Cody hurried to stop Murray. "Boz—"

Officer Shields was becoming angry, too. "Now look, the lieutenant vouched for you guys, and she told me you're P.I.s and all, but I will _not_ have you interfering with this investigation."

Cody got annoyed himself as he looked back at the self-righteous young officer. "Hey, this _investigation_ is all of five seconds old. You didn't even believe there was a reason to investigate until we verified that Nick was telling the truth. What would it hurt for us to go out there?"

"I will not have you contaminating my crime scene."

Murray's eyes climbed to his hair line. " _Your_ crime scene?"

Cody folded his arms, "Have you been out there yourself?"

Shields smirked, "When we picked up Mr. Ryder."

Murray started to jab his finger in the man's chest, but Cody caught the hand before he could carry through with his intent. Still, Murray made his point verbally. "Did you even look around, see if there was anyone still there? Any clues? Or did you just _assume_ that Nick was _confused_ and ignore signs of anything else?"

Shields breathed hard a couple of times, but he didn't offer an answer. Which was plenty answer enough.

Cody let go of Murray's arm and looked back at the cop. "What could it hurt at this point? You didn't tape off the alley when you picked up Nick, did you? So there's no telling how many people have walked through since you left. What more damage could we do?"

Shields stubbornly chewed the inside of his lip, clearly against the idea.

Cody shrugged slightly, "Why don't you call Lieutenant Parisi and see what she thinks?"

The officer's mouth twisted into a triumphant, fake smile. "She's on her way down here right now."

Cody's lips twitched, but he managed not to grin. Shields might not know it, but the Riptide Detective Agency had won this round.

Just then, the beautiful blonde police lieutenant and all around good friend walked through the door from the parking lot. "Cody, Murray, I came as soon as I heard. How's Nick?"

Murray looked away as Cody accepted her outstretched hand. "He'll be okay. Thanks for coming."

She turned to Murray, "Boz, I'm so sorry about your sister; is there any word yet?"

Boz folded his arms and turned his accusing glare back to Officer Shields. "We were just discussing the possibility of going to the alley to look around."

Joanna Parisi didn't get to be a lieutenant on her good looks, and she certainly picked up on the tension in the group. She turned a speculative eye on Shields. "Is there a problem here?"

Shields stared back at her briefly. "What do you think about that idea, ma'am?"

"I think that Murray might be able to provide some insight into his sister that none of us would have. He's an outstanding investigator. And I think he'll be able to keep his personal feelings under control."

Not acknowledging the defeat, Shields nodded crisply, "As you say, ma'am. We can go right now if that's satisfactory."

Joanna glanced back at Cody and Murray. "If you're ready, gentlemen?"

Cody passed her a slight smile of gratitude. "Just let me tell Nick we're leaving."

Joanna nodded, "Give him my best."

Cody hurried back through the E.R. to Nick's cubicle. His partner looked just as miserable as before. "Hey, buddy. Joanna showed up, and we're going down to that alley where you got jumped, to look around and see if we can find anything."

Again, Nick wouldn't look at him. Like he was ashamed. "Yeah, okay."

Cody hated to see him hurting like this. "You gonna be all right by yourself?"

"Yeah. Just stick close to Murray, okay? He needs you."

Cody nodded, knowing Boz wasn't the only friend needing a shoulder right now, but he managed not to say it. "We'll be back, okay?"

Nick nodded slightly, the only proof that he'd heard. Cody squeezed his hand but got no response before he had to go.

Once the curtains again separated him from Nick, Cody closed his eyes in fervent hope that they would find Melba. Otherwise, it might be the end of the agency. Among other things.


	4. Chapter 4

Notes: Be patient with Murray... 

Murray stared out the passenger window, trying to keep his feelings under control. He was a scientist; he needed to be objective. That meant controlling the emotions swirling through his head and heart. Though he tended to wear his heart on his sleeve much of the time, he was usually able to divorce his feelings from a case so he could render clear, logical conclusions regarding any situation. That's what he needed to do _now_. Treat this like any other case. Any other case.

Riding through the bright darkness of the Redondo night, Murray suddenly noticed that his fingernails were biting into his palms. He looked down at his hands and slowly uncurled his fists, pulling his thumbs out from under his fingers. Part of his brain catalogued that Cody and Nick would have scolded him for doing the whole _fist_ thing wrong. Again. He couldn't help it that his way of making a fist was different from ninety-five percent of the world's population.

That thought took him back to Nick. And how he was responsible for this whole mess. When Melba showed up at the helipad, why didn't Nick just bring her to the boat? The question was beyond even Murray's abilities to decipher. Even an… _imbecile_ like Nick should be able to grasp such a simple concept. Someone needs help, get her help. See? Simple. And when that person just happened to be the little sister of one of the principle helpers—even simpler.

So why had Nick done the exact opposite? The only reason Murray could come up with was that Nick wanted to be a big hero for BaBa. Nick knew that Cody was attracted to her as well, so he'd seized the chance to one up his good looking partner in the stupid games they played with each other. Unfortunately, this time the one paying the price for Nick's ridiculous competitive nature was Murray's sister. And Murray was not going to be able to forgive that error. Not when it could have been so easily prevented if Nick had just taken the simple path and returned to the boat.

And all that nonsense about Melba not wanting to involve her brother? For heaven's sake, that was complete and utter baloney. Murray and BaBa shared everything. Practically everything. All the people they dated, the projects they were working on, the adventures they got involved in. There was just no way—no reason—that BaBa would ever try to exclude Murray from anything she was doing. And it only proved the lengths Nick would go to to cover his incompetence and mistakes.

Murray refused to entertain the thought that there might not be any more marathon phone calls with his sister. He'd long ago recognized his inability to keep up with her; she was always jetting off somewhere with her boyfriend of the week. It was impossible to keep a current number, so instead, Murray just continued his own work and looked forward to her calls. They spent hours catching up on the phone as he learned about her new guys, her research, her travels, and she found out about his latest cases, his work on the Roboz, and anyone he'd recently dated. Though her calls were occasionally infrequent and a month or so might elapse between them, the siblings always just picked up right where they'd left off, as if they'd just spoken the previous day. Murray had many friends, acquaintances, and colleagues around the world, but no one could touch the relationship he had with his sister. He and Cody had to find her. _Had_ to.

Which was why he could not and would not forgive Nick for his inexcusable choices. When Melba showed up, there should have been no question of what to do, but somehow Nick managed to screw up even the easiest job—get Melba help. Keep her safe. And if anything happened to BaBa because of Nick's ignominious decisions, Murray would never, ever be able to forgive him.

In front of the Jimmy, the police car slowed, and Murray sat up straighter to see exactly where they were going. An alley near the intersection of 8th and PCH. Lights were being set up so the crime scene technicians could get started.

While Murray was beyond angry with Nick, he also held extreme prejudice against Officer Shields. He'd blithely assumed that just because Nick had a head wound that he was confused. All the time that had been wasted because if his faulty conclusions…

Murray found himself focusing on the time element: the tip informing the police; dispatching Officer Shields; the drive to the alley…and there was probably more than one alley around here which would mean a search to locate the correct site; ascertaining that Nick needed an ambulance; waiting for it to arrive; the drive to the hospital; identifying Nick—who they _thought_ was the victim; calling the boat; Cody and Murray driving to the hospital; and finally the two of them verifying that Nick was telling the truth. It had to have been an hour or more. What might have happened to BaBa in all that wasted time? If they'd been on the case from the beginning, how much closer would they be right now? But then, if they'd been on the case all along, she never would have been kidnapped!

Which took him right back to Nick. If he'd just brought her back to the boat…

And to Officer Shields. If he'd just believed Nick in the first place…

Murray blew out a deep, hopefully calming breath. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught Cody's concerned glance. Murray knew he was behaving out of character, but Cody would just have to give him a little room. Murray's whole world was upside down right now; he had a right to be upset.

Cody cleared his throat as he slowed the Jimmy behind Shields's patrol car. "We'll find her, Boz."

Murray was trying to keep a rein on his emotions, but he would not allow unsupportable assurances. It wasn't scientific. "You can't say that. You don't know that. Don't patronize me."

Cody grabbed Murray's hand and squeezed, "I can believe it, and I do. We _will_ find her."

Murray couldn't bear the thought of a world without his sister, but he also couldn't make decisions based on false hope. But since Cody seemed intent on sharing, Murray nodded briefly and climbed out of the truck.

Unmindful of the police officers now flocking to the alley, Murray slipped under the yellow crime scene tape. It did catch his attention—barely—that Cody was only two steps away the entire time. As more lights were brought to the scene, Murray took a long look at the dirty, dingy alley.

Any other case. Just like any other case. Any other case where the victim wasn't named Bozinsky. Murray squeezed his eyes shut and felt Cody's hand on his shoulder. He let out a deep breath and opened his eyes for another look. Any other case.

Two dumpsters half full of garbage. Cardboard and wooden crates that were partially broken. Scattered trash. The other end of the alley blocked by a solid, twelve foot wooden fence. Four doorways that led into the buildings on either side. Two small light fixtures, one broken. The smell of garbage and urine and vomit. Murray swallowed hard; the idea of his sister in this disgusting place made Murray nauseated, and he shut his eyes again briefly to block out the image.

Beside him, he heard Cody mutter something. He turned to look at his remaining partner. "What?"

Cody looked back at him, full of compassion, and he compressed his lips briefly. "I was just wondering why Nick brought her in here. We should've gotten more details from him about what happened."

Just as Murray was trying to avoid thoughts of BaBa in this horrible place, he needed to step back from his anger at Nick. It might cloud his judgment. So…try to think like Nick. But that would mean getting inside the head of an idiot.

Cody glanced at the entrance to the alley and back along its length. "They would come in here because… because… because someone was chasing them."

Murray followed Cody's train of thought. If BaBa said someone was after her, and Nick was taking her to Joanna's house as he said, maybe the two of them picked up a tail and were chased into the alley. "And once they got in here, their only exit would have been over the fence or through one of these doors."

Cody nodded and went over to one of the crime scene techs. He returned with latex gloves for them both, and they proceeded to check the doorknobs. Unfortunately, all of them were locked. They headed for the fence at the other end.

Cody pulled out the Jimmy's flashlight and began inspecting the ground along the fence. Murray looked as well, but the concrete revealed nothing. The beam of light then highlighted the wooden fence. It was old and full of knots. Very scarred. Murray looked up at the top of the fence, twice his height. He shook his head in regret. "There's no way BaBa could have gotten over this."

Cody studied the top. "She probably could with help."

Murray stared at his partner, "You think she got away?"

Cody looked back at him sympathetically, "No. Nick would know if she got over the fence. Think about it, Boz. Pretend you're Nick. You and Melba are being chased, and you run into this alley. Nowhere to hide, the doors are locked. The only way out is over this fence. What would Nick do?"

Murray tried again to rise above his anger. "He would…try to help BaBa get away."

"That's right. He'd try to get her over this fence."

"They run back here, he's trying to give her a boost…"

"And the bad guys are on them before she got over. Or they threaten to shoot Nick, and she jumps back down."

Cody flashed the light on the fence again. Some of the scars on the wood might have been fresh, made by feet trying to scrabble up and over the fence.

Cody glanced at the top again. "I wonder how close she came to getting over."

"And if she might have dropped something on the other side before she came back down."

Murray saw a hopeful bounce to Cody's brows along with a slight smirk. "Murray, don't you need to get some air?"

"Some air? Cody, we just got started, we can't take a break!"

" _Murray_. You need to take a short walk, okay? Maybe _around the block_."

Murray realized he was being too literal again. He softened slightly and offered Cody as small grin of apology. Cody gave him a light pat on the shoulder. "Come on, let's go get some air. You look upset; I'll make our excuses."

Walking back through the trash strewn alley, Murray wondered briefly if Joanna would believe their little scam. Doubtful. For all her culture and class, she had street smarts and was very good at reading people.

Cody stopped to whisper something in the lieutenant's ear, and she raised her head to eye Murray as he ambled along, fists shoved in his pockets, trying to look cut up. Granted, that wasn't a tough sell right now.

As Cody jogged up, Murray tried to distract himself a little by thinking of the art of the scam. Initially, it was one of the skills he'd had the most trouble with. It seemed so easy for Cody and Nick, and Murray had watched, fascinated, as characters and dialogue took shape in seconds, being born as his partners tried to pull information from unsuspecting people. And eventually, Murray had developed the ability himself. He almost smiled, remembering their complete astonishment when he'd commandeered the scam to get information on Del Turner when he was in the hospital. And how they had to scramble to keep up with him for once. That was…sweet. Like how he imagined a trapeze artist would feel, flying through the air just waiting for his partner to catch him.

But, of course, that would never happen again. Murray could not conceive that he would ever be able to work with Nick Ryder again. He was completely incompetent, and Murray was just sorry that his sister was paying the price for Murray wearing blinders all these years about the man and his judgment. Of course, Cody was still with Murray at the moment, but Boz had no illusions that Cody would stand against Nick long term. The two of them had been partners long before Murray crashed the party, and he was certain that Cody would remain loyal to Nick even through this fiasco.

Loyalty was one of the traits he'd always admired most about his partners. The way they stuck together against all comers. And how they'd added him in when Murray came onboard as their third. Once he'd thrown in with them, he'd never had a moment's concern about his back because he knew one of them was always watching it. Unfortunately, it seemed that Nick's loyalty did have limits. Tough way for Murray to figure that out.

They rounded the final corner of the block and approached the tall fence that was the end of the alley on the other side. Sitting in front of the fence were several newspaper machines and three overflowing, metal garbage cans. The lighting was better on the street, but Cody still swept the area with his flashlight.

After a few minutes of visual examination, Cody handed Murray the flashlight and dumped the first trash can. Murray was glad of the latex gloves as they started pawing through the smelly garbage. When the first load showed nothing, they heaped all the trash back into the can and started with the second one. A few minutes after they got into that one, Murray saw a flash of something in the beam of light. "Cody, look."

"Did you find something?"

"Maybe." Murray picked up the item. A bracelet with dozens of dangling charms. He couldn't take his eyes off it.

"Do you recognize it? Is it Melba's?"

The bracelet flashed as the light caught different facets of the charms and links. "It was actually my grandmother's. My grandfather sold encyclopedias, so he was on the road a lot. My grandmother stayed home while he traveled around. And he would bring her charms from his trips. She always said this bracelet was both proof of their love and an explanation for why they only had one child. 'Cause he was hardly ever home."

"And that's what Melba left you as a clue."

"Or it just got caught on the fence when she was pulled back down on the other side."

Cody sighed, "Boz, you gotta think positive here, buddy. She was gonna be caught, but she was able to keep one thing out of the hands of the kidnappers—that bracelet."

Murray took a deep breath and tried to look on the optimistic side. Cody was right; Murray couldn't allow himself to be pulled into a morass of premature grief. His sister was spunky and tough and adventurous and brilliant. And she was good with men—maybe even bad guys would be swayed by her playful personality. He didn't really believe it, but it wouldn't do any good for him to get depressed.

Cody squeezed his shoulder, "We should head back to the hospital and see if they're gonna let Nick go home. Whoever took Melba may try to contact us on the boat."

Murray nodded and dropped the bracelet in his pocket. The two of them cleaned up the trash and returned the cans to where they belonged before heading back around to the alley.

Joanna saw them as they turned the corner. "Murray, are you all right?"

He nodded, "Thank you for letting us come."

"Do you have any idea what Nick and your sister were doing here? I read Shields's notes, but I couldn't really get a clear picture."

Murray huffed in frustration and gave her a précis of Nick's side of the story.

Her brow wrinkled in confusion, "And you don't know what she was working on?"

"How would I know? Thanks to Nick, I never even saw her."

An uncomfortable silence descended for a moment. Finally, Joanna took a deep breath and looked at Murray and Cody speculatively, "Did you find anything on your walk around the block?"

Cody looked at Murray who shrugged slightly. Cody looked back at the police lieutenant. "We think Nick tried to help Melba over the fence. Her bracelet was in a garbage can on the other side."

"May I see it?"

Murray pulled the bracelet out of his pocket and handed it to her. "It was my grandmother's."

She examined it, "It's beautiful. Does it mean anything to you?"

"Just how much my grandparents loved each other."

She picked up Murray's hand and wrapped his fingers around Melba's bracelet. "I'm not going to waste my breath by telling you not to investigate, but try to keep me in the loop. I might be able to help."

Murray tried to control the swell of emotion that rippled through him at her sympathetic gaze, and he managed a nod.

Cody, of course, recognized that he was struggling and stepped in. "Thanks for the assist with Shields."

She rolled her eyes. "Oh, he's just a rookie, still wrapped up in following all the rules. I'm sorry for the mix-up."

Murray walked away, unable to say it was okay. Shields's mistakes might mean his sister wouldn't come home alive. He couldn't bring himself to assure Joanna that he held no grudge because, truthfully, he felt outraged. And he couldn't say it was all right. It wasn't.

Cody finally joined him in the Jimmy, and he reached over to squeeze Murray's knee before starting the engine. In minutes, they were pulling into the parking lot of the hospital.

Cody glanced over, "You want to go in, or…"

Murray thumbed the bracelet. "I'll wait here."

Cody nodded and headed inside. In a couple of minutes, he was jogging back to the Jimmy. Alone.

Good.

He climbed in the cab and sat silently for a moment, gripping the steering wheel. Though Murray was actively trying to blank his mind, attempting to expel any thoughts of what BaBa might be going through, he finally grasped the fact that Cody was upset. "What?"

"He's gone."

"Nick?"

Cody nodded, "Sometime after the cops took his statement, he apparently walked out without telling anyone. No one knows when or how or anything. Just that when they went to check on him, he was gone."

Murray huffed a breath. Typical. Nick was always flaunting the rules, blowing people off, acting like he was smarter than everyone else; why should anyone expect him to follow doctor's orders and stay where he was supposed to? "I'm just surprised that you're surprised, Cody. Nick screwed up with BaBa; now he's gone off to hide until we can fix this. _Hopefully_ fix this."

Cody just stared at Murray.

Boz sat waiting for Cody's excuse, and when no response was forthcoming, "What?"

Cody sighed, "When have you ever known Nick to hide from anything?"

Murray refused to back down. "Well, why do you think he left?"

"I don't know. Maybe he had an idea about how to find Melba; maybe just 'cause he hates hospitals."

"Fine; believe what you want. All I know is: he screwed up, he knows it, and he can't bear to face me."

Cody just shook his head and turned back to the wheel.

If Cody wanted to delude himself about Nick's character, Murray wasn't going to waste breath trying to talk him out of it. He had other things to concentrate on right now.


	5. Chapter 5

Nick climbed over the side of the boat, never so glad to be home. The thought suddenly struck him that it wouldn't be his home much longer. But for the moment, it was where his clothes were, and until he could make other arrangements, it was a place to lie down.

He dropped the envelope on the table in the salon and headed down to the stateroom he shared with Cody. His ribs, abdomen, back, head, shoulder—everything throbbed with his pulse, and it made moving around pretty miserable.

Not bothering to remove his clothes, he eased himself down to the bunk. He lay there, replaying the night over and over.

He'd blown it with Melba. He should have just followed his instincts and brought her back to the boat, regardless of what she'd said. But just as he'd wanted to protect Melba, he also wanted to protect Murray, and when she said he would be hurt and refused to explain how or why, Nick didn't feel he had much choice. Of course, it was easy to see events differently with hindsight being twenty-twenty and all that.

Murray was furious with Nick, and he had every right to be. If something… _unthinkable_ …happened to Melba because of Nick's decisions and failures, he didn't know how he'd live with himself. And he sure couldn't ask Murray to. Even if everything turned out okay, Murray would never trust him again. And Nick couldn't ask Cody to give choose one partner over the other. Nick would move out and find other work, let Cody and Murray get on with their lives.

When Nick left the hospital, he'd caught a cab back to the helipad, just in case Melba had left some evidence in the chopper. After a long, difficult search made harder by his uncooperative body, he'd found an envelope hidden behind the pilot's seat. Nick had a habit of sticking things there that he didn't want to lose or forget, so he'd known the envelope wasn't his as soon as he found it.

It turned out to be a disc. Walking back to the boat, he'd thought about firing up the Roboz to see if he could get anything off it. He had learned a few things about computers from his genius partner over the years, and he'd considered taking a crack at it. But…this was Murray's specialty and Murray's sister, and Nick figured he'd already screwed up enough in Murray's world tonight. Better just to leave the master to do his thing.

So Nick lay there in the dark of the cabin, replaying all the mistakes he'd made that evening, trying to get some rest. In the shadows, he imagined other outcomes, other ideas, wishing he'd had other options. His mind just rolled around and around with the motion of the boat.

It was after midnight when Cody parked the Jimmy in its customary spot. He looked in vain at the dark boat, hoping to see a light or anything else to indicate that Nick was home. Cody knew better than anyone how much Nick hated hospitals; but more than that, he knew how much Nick was hurting, probably more in spirit than in body. And to think of all that guilt swirling around in Nick's head without anyone to talk him out of beating himself up, it caused a knot to catch in Cody's throat.

Of course, Cody'd had no choice. As bad as Nick was hurting, Murray was in crisis mode right now. Cody had seen Murray upset and worked up many times in the past, but this went beyond anything in Cody's experience. And in view of that, Boz needed someone to run interference and keep him from offending the people who could help find his sister.

They both hurried down the companionway, but Cody realized they probably had different reasons for rushing. Murray wanted to see if there was any word from the people who had taken Melba; Cody wanted to see if Nick was home.

When they got to the salon, Murray hit the blinking button on the answering machine.

 _"Murray? It's Hubie Zaltash. I was hoping to catch you. Call me as soon as you get this message."_

Cody eyed Murray, "Hubie Zaltash?"

Murray waved it off. "He's a friend from way back. I'll call him later." No other messages were on the machine, and Murray looked devastated.

Cody rubbed his friend's shoulder, "Hey, why don't you take a closer look at Melba's bracelet? Maybe she added a new charm or something as a clue."

Murray didn't look optimistic, but he nodded. As he started toward his room, he glanced at the table, still in shadows cast by the lights on the pier. "What's that?"

Cody squinted in the faint light and turned on the lamp. A manila envelope lay in a space that was previously empty.

Boz opened the envelope and pulled out a disc. His eyes lit up, "This is BaBa's handwriting, Cody." He showed the disc to Cody. On the label, _Article_.

Murray hurried down to his room, and Cody went the opposite direction, hoping that Nick was responsible for finding the envelope. Seeing that the door to their state room was pulled shut, Cody breathed a short sigh of relief that Nick must be home.

Turning on the lamp in the stateroom, he found Nick asleep. He touched his shoulder, and Nick jerked awake, instantly alarmed. After half a second to breathe and reorient, he focused on Cody. "Hey."

Cody looked him over in concern. Worse swelling, more vivid bruises, left arm still in a sling. "We went back to the hospital to pick you up, but you had disappeared."

Nick held out his good hand, silently asking for an assist up. With a minor amount of grunting, the two of them managed to get him sitting on the side of the bed. "I couldn't just lay around there, not doing anything. How's Murray?"

Cody gripped the hand he still held, "Not good. I've never seen him like this. We found Melba's bracelet on the other side of the fence in the alley."

Nick sighed, "I tried to get her over, but those guys were just too fast. They were on us in a second."

"I know."

Nick disengaged his one available hand and dry washed his face, rubbing hard at temples and eyes. "Did you see the disc?"

"Yeah, Murray's looking at it now. Where'd you find it?"

"Melba must have put it behind the pilot's seat on the _Mimi_. That's where I went after I left the hospital."

Cody looked at him sympathetically, "Let's go see what he's found."

Nick looked vaguely reluctant, but he took a decently deep breath and nodded, gingerly pushing himself to his feet as Cody led the way to the salon. Going down the front stairs was more difficult than going up, but Nick managed without help and followed Cody into the computer room.

"You find anything, Boz?"

Murray looked around, but his face hardened when he saw Nick trail in behind. He flattened his mouth. "Did _you_ find this disc or was it already on the boat when you got back?"

"I found it in _Mimi_ after I left the hospital."

"Well, it's complete gibberish." Murray looked frustrated and angry.

Nick started to answer, but he just shook his head slightly and looked away.

Cody felt uncomfortable being in the middle. "What do you mean, Boz?"

"Look at this. It's just gobbledy-gook. It doesn't mean anything."

Cody stared at Murray's monitor, and sure enough, lines and lines of symbols and letters with no real words sped past. "Can you stop it? Or pause it?"

Murray hit a key, and the lines stopped immediately. Cody studied it, trying to make anything out of it. "Boz, these look like paragraphs. Is this some kind of code or something?"

Murray shrugged in irritation, "That's my best guess, but it's not using any of the keys that I have. Cryptography is the science of…well, codes and code breaking. Basically encrypting common language so that it becomes unreadable unless you have the specific decryption key. And whatever BaBa used here, I have no idea." He buried his head in his hand, thoroughly disheartened.

Nick remained by the door. "I thought that disc might give us an idea of who's responsible for all this."

Murray's slow gaze back at Nick was full of daggers. "There seems to be a plethora of responsible parties."

Nick bit his lips together and rubbed the shoulder held immobile by the sling.

Cody shut his eyes against the pain in the room. Both of his friends were hurting so much, and he could do nothing to ease any of it. It felt like the mess with Jody, the dolphin trainer…only a hundred times worse.

Murray blew out a frustrated breath and turned back to stare at his screen.

After a few moments of uncomfortable silence, Nick cleared his throat. Murray's posture stiffened in response.

After another second or two when Cody could see Nick working to control his voice, Nick finally said, "Look, Murray, I know you can't forgive me. I screwed up, and there's nothing I can do to change that. If I could do it over, I would." He paused again and swallowed hard, "At this point, all I can do is tell you what Melba said earlier. She said these guys didn't want her to publish the information she'd found out. And that this information would hurt you, too. So I gotta think that whatever's on that disc is the information these turkeys wanted when they came after us. I mean, when they came after her.

Murray folded his arms and pointedly refused to look around at Nick. Like he didn't even hear him.

Cody rolled his eyes at the stubbornness in the three of them. It always manifested at the worst times. "Murray, when was the last time you talked to Melba? Do you know what she was working on? What this article is about?"

Murray sighed reluctantly and fingered his keyboard. Finally, "It's been a few weeks. And she hasn't really talked much lately about what she's working on. I'd have to think about it."

Behind him, Nick silently shook his head and left the room. Cody tried to control his own frustration. Sometimes, they all acted very childishly. He squeezed Murray's shoulder, "Well, you work on it, huh?"

He found Nick seated in the salon, head cradled in his good hand. "You okay?"

Nick didn't move. "I'm just distracting him, making him more upset. He can't work that way."

Cody started the coffee; it was going to be a long night. "She said Murray would be _hurt_ by what she'd found out?"

Nick nodded, "Yeah. And that the people who were after her might go after him, too, if they thought he was involved, but also that what she was going to publish would hurt him, too. Like hurt his feelings or something. That's what I thought at the time anyway." He paused, "I really screwed the pooch here, Cody."

"If she wouldn't come back to the boat, I don't know what else you could've done."

"I should've made her come."

Cody raised a skeptical brow. "This is _Melba Bozinsky_ we're talking about, right? Hurricane Melba who creates her own weather?"

Nick leaned his head back against the window, "Go check on him, huh? I'll be okay; he won't."

Cody leaned forward and grabbed Nick's good hand. "Hey! Don't give up on us. Boz'll figure this out. He _will_."

Nick looked back at Cody with misery filled eyes. "Normal Boz would. But this isn't normal. And it's not gonna be normal, maybe never again."


	6. Chapter 6

Murray stared morosely at the computer screen, seeing the same useless lines he'd been looking at for hours. He pulled his glasses off and rubbed his eyes, wishing they didn't feel like they were full of sand. He glanced at the clock and saw it was almost 4:00 a.m.

He leaned his forehead on his hand, wishing he could rest. His brain would work more efficiently if it could get just a few minutes break, but even if he had the time, he didn't think his body would relax enough to catch a short nap.

Cody was in the extra chair, head back against the closet door, Melba's charm bracelet lying slack in one hand. He'd dozed off half an hour earlier, unable to keep his eyes open.

Murray turned an ear toward the open door behind him. He could hear nothing from the rest of the boat. No telling where Nick was or what he was doing. Murray hadn't seen him since they'd first looked at the disc. The one that supposedly had Melba's article on it.

While Murray continued to hold Nick—and Officer Shields—primarily responsible for this whole catastrophe, Murray had to confess—if only to himself—that if Nick was telling the truth about what Melba had said at the helipad, then Murray probably wouldn't be much help in figuring out the problem. He didn't really know what Melba's latest paper was on.

And one crucial fact kept returning to haunt him: Melba had shown up at the _Mimi_ …not the _Riptide_. Her choice. She had pointedly not come to her brother for help. He hadn't even known she was in town.

Yes, they usually talked to each other about their work. But…the last few times Melba had called, she didn't bring up her research. She'd asked Murray about his latest projects…but not discussed her own. And now that Murray considered it, whenever he'd asked her, she'd responded vaguely and quickly changed the subject. She'd been doing that since…

It took a while for Murray to remember, but it finally came to him; since he'd refused her request for research assistance a few months back. And now that it was on his mind, he felt guilty about it.

Some time ago, BaBa had asked for contact information for some of Murray's older mentors. World War II was her specialty, and she'd gotten interested in early computer development related to the work of Konrad Zuse and his Z1 computer first developed in Nazi Germany in 1937. From that starting point, she'd sidetracked into research about the early developers of both computer hardware and software. And she'd asked Murray for introductions to his mentors so she could interview them on their memories and accomplishments; too many geniuses were already gone, and she didn't want to risk anyone else dying before their contributions were recorded.

Murray had provided the information on most of them, but he'd held back a few. Not because of any concerns he had about their ground-breaking achievements, but several of them were elderly, and their health made interviews difficult. A few had even developed cognitive problems, and he didn't want the general—or even the scholarly—public to become aware of their deficits. It was all just so unfair that such brilliant men—and a few women—had lost so much of their brain function.

For the most part, BaBa didn't fuss about the people that Murray held back. But one person in particular had pricked her interest, and she became persistent about him. F. Hubert Zaltash. And Murray had a sudden jolt that Hubie had just left a message on the answering machine while they were out tonight. That was an…odd…coincidence. Murray hadn't talked to Hubie in…maybe a year? And he just happened to call tonight of all nights?

Murray's mind tumbled with possibilities. Hubie wasn't a hardware pioneer, but he'd been a revolutionary programmer. He'd been part of a small startup in the 1950s that helped other companies with their problems. Part of Hubie's programming had made NASA's moon landings possible. That was his most famous early accomplishment, but really just the tip of the iceberg of a brilliant programming career. When Murray was eight years old, he'd written him a fan letter; Hubie had been kind enough to write back. And a long correspondence resulted, followed by a strong friendship after a teenaged Murray met him in person at M.I.T.

Unfortunately, a couple of years ago, Hubie had suffered a stroke that affected his motor abilities. He was now in a wheelchair and unable to work a keyboard. Such a shame that his still sharp mind was now hindered by an unresponsive body. When Melba asked for an introduction, Murray had demurred. He didn't want his old friend's problems made public; Hubie preferred to let the world think he'd retired and was enjoying life away from the world of business and computers.

But BaBa had persisted. Through several attempts, Murray had continued to put her off. And finally, he'd just flat refused. Now that Murray thought about it, that was about when she'd quit talking about her work in general. Murray had just assumed that she'd found something else to work on that didn't involve Hubie Zaltash, but maybe that wasn't actually the case. Maybe… Maybe she'd found other avenues to reach Zaltash. Maybe she'd found information that would harm his reputation…and that's what she didn't want Murray to find out.

Which would also explain why Hubie was calling tonight. Because he knew that BaBa's research was ready to be published.

Murray's mind rolled with ideas. As much as he didn't want to believe that his sister had uncovered unsavory information about his old mentor, he knew that she was a thorough researcher. If she had enough to accuse Hubie of…something…she no doubt had corroborating evidence to support her claims.

And, of course, she'd always known of Murray's hero worship of Zaltash. As a child, he'd long expounded on the accomplishments of the man. And read aloud the letters he'd received from his idol. Of all people, she would know how disappointed and hurt Murray would be by damaging revelations. It made some of Nick's earlier claims seem a little more plausible. And also explained why she didn't come to the boat in the first place.

And…Murray could see that there might be other people who would be very upset with Melba for wanting to publish damaging information on Zaltash. The small company Hubie had worked for years ago was now a multi-billion dollar conglomerate, FathomLight. Much of Hubie's original work was the foundation of their latest, greatest programming coups. If Hubie's integrity were questioned, millions of dollars were potentially at stake, plus the reputation—and stock prices—of a highly respected company. Murray could see that some people might be at pains to stop the publication of such volatile information.

Still, if BaBa had sensed danger from any quarter, she should have come to Boz. He was her big brother, after all, and he had big brother rights. It was completely beside the point that he wasn't very big physically. She should have come to him if she was in trouble. But the truth was staring him in the face: she chose not to.

Cody suddenly jerked awake, looking around the room as if to check for monsters.

"You okay, Cody?"

Cody focused on Murray and rubbed his eyes. "Yeah. Sorry. How long was I out?"

"Half hour, forty-five minutes."

Cody stood up and paused by the door, probably listening for movement elsewhere on the boat. But he said nothing. And asked nothing. Murray felt just a little guilty that Cody was stuck in the middle between his partners. And even though Murray now recognized that Melba had made the original mistake in not contacting him, Nick's concession to her demands only compounded the error.

At any rate, Cody didn't say anything. He held up the charm bracelet. "I dreamed about this thing."

Murray blinked in surprise. "Any insights?"

"Maybe. Look at this one charm. I couldn't figure out what was different about it before I fell asleep, but I think I got it in my dream."

Murray took the bracelet from Cody's fingers. He was holding one particular charm, one that Murray was particularly fond of. It was the mathematical symbol for infinity—"∞"; Murray's grandfather had given it to his grandmother, saying it was the perfect definition of his love. And the Infinity charm was dangling from another charm—an "M"—for Myra.

Murray examined the rest of the bracelet. "This is the only charm that's attached to another charm."

"Right. Maybe it means something. Maybe Melba did that on purpose to make it significant."

Murray turned it over in his head. It did sound like something his sister would do. Just exactly like something she would do. But what could it signify?

Cody began walking and verbalizing his thoughts. "An 'M' and an '8'. Eight M's? Or could the sounds be combined into 'Mate'?"

Murray had been visualizing millions and billions of M's, stretching into infinity. Possibly millions and billions of M&M® candies…when Cody's question intruded into his consciousness. "What?"

Cody looked back at Murray blankly. "What what?"

"Did you say an 'M' and an '8'? That's not an '8', Cody; it's the symbol for Infinity." He turned it in the right direction and showed it to Cody

Cody blinked, "Oh. Of course. Looks like an '8' on its side."

Suddenly, synapses fired; connections were made; ideas slammed into one another so quick Murray didn't try to grasp them all at once. And all the pieces fell magically into place. "That's it! Cody, you did it! You got it!"

Cody looked startled and a little confused, "I did?"

"Yes! The key!" Murray started to sit down at his computer, but the phone rang. At a little after four in the morning, the phone was ringing. Phone calls in the middle of the night were never good news.

Murray snatched up the receiver. "Yes?" Full of trepidation.

"Bozinsky?"

Nerves made his heart flutter. "Yes."

There was a pause, then he heard the voice he'd been longing for. "Scooter?"

He breathed a sigh of relief, "BaBa, are you okay?"

"I'm fine. They haven't hurt me. Did you find the disc?"

"Yes, but it's all just mish-mash, BaBa. I couldn't read it."

"I know, Murray. I didn't want just _anyone_ who had a computer to be able to read it. That article is too important."

"I see."

"They say they'll trade me for the disc. They promise not to hurt me if you bring it to Griffith Park—"

BaBa's voice was cut off and followed by the return of the original caller's voice. "Griffith Park at the water tower on Mt. Hollywood. 6:00 a.m. Alone. Got it?"

"Got it. Don't hurt her."

"Just bring the disc."

Murray cradled the receiver and took a couple of deep breathes.

"Boz?"

Murray looked up to see Cody staring back at him expectantly. "Griffith Park, Mt. Hollywood Water Tower. They said to come alone. 6:00 a.m."

"She's okay?"

Murray smiled briefly. "Yes." He looked at the computer and began typing. His sudden understanding of the decryption key—a number and letter game based on _The Cat in the Hat_ that they'd developed after the two of them had been compared to Thing 1 and Thing 2—the perfect _mates_ —was the solution to BaBa's code, and the sequences flew from his head almost without thinking.

In minutes, the decrypted article was printing, and Murray quickly typed the commands to copy the disc. The copy ejected, and Murray dropped it into an envelope. He addressed it, slapped on too much postage, checked the printer, and re-encrypted BaBa's original disc before dropping it into the original envelope. "You ready?"

Cody nodded quickly, "Yeah."

The two of them hurried through the galley and up the forward stairs. The salon was still shrouded in darkness, and Cody held up a hand briefly as he vaulted down to his and Nick's cabin. In seconds he was back, clearly unhappy.

Murray was buckling on an ankle holster. "What?"

"He's gone. Did you hear him leave?"

Murray hadn't. That surprised him a little. "No. I thought he was still onboard."

Cody shook his head briefly and slid his gun in the back of his jeans.

Murray sighed slightly. No telling when Nick had slipped off. Damned stubborn idiot. And while Murray wasn't as upset as he was earlier, he still harbored a healthy anger that the whole mess could have been avoided. Or at least a little better contained if he'd been involved from the beginning. But he didn't have time to worry about Nick right now. He and Cody needed to rescue BaBa.


	7. Chapter 7

Cody tried to catch his breath as he jogged along one of the lonely trails that wended through Griffith Park. He'd noticed the sky change gradually from almost black, to gray, to lavender, and it was now approaching pink and peach. The terrain was hilly and covered in brush and trees; under cover of the foliage, the shadows remained dark even as the sky began to lighten.

It was a little after five in the morning, and he and Murray had hashed out a quick plan on the drive in from the coast. Murray would be at the foot of the water tower while Cody hid himself somewhere close by to provide cover. They had absolutely no reason to trust the bad guys in this situation.

During their discussion, they decided to reveal that Murray had decrypted and copied the disc; not only did Boz and Melba know the contents, but so did Cody. Plus, they had dropped a copy of the disc in the mail…and therefore, it could not be quickly retrieved. That idea would give the Riptide boys a little insurance and the kidnappers something else to think about. The knowledge that someone else was aware of the information in the article might give the bad guys pause before they tried to kill Murray and Melba.

Not for the first time, Cody wished Nick had stuck around. They sure could've used his help at the water tower. And Cody would admit that he was worried about him. Murray's anger and Nick's own guilt were eating him alive. There was no telling when Nick had left the boat or where he'd gone. Cody was pretty sure it must've been after he fell asleep, but there was really no way to know. Jungle Nick might have put in an appearance, and even hurt, the man could move silently when he chose.

Not that Cody thought Nick would never return. He _would_ , but when? And would he be physically okay when he did? There were times when Nick seemed to lose all perspective when it came to his own personal safety. Mostly when events seemed to take over. Cody had seen as much on several occasions over the years. And if an event ever qualified, this was it, so Cody felt justifiably concerned that Nick might do something ridiculously stupid and dangerous.

The water tower wasn't at the very top of Mt. Hollywood, but it could be seen from several vantage points and approached by at least two points in the trail system. Or cross country. It had been a while since Cody had been hiking up here, but he had some ideas about where he might have a good view of the proceedings.

As he approached the tower, full dawn was breaking. Cody stayed hidden in the brush as he closed in, trying to decide where to secrete himself. Really, it all came down to the approach the kidnappers took. Depending on that, there were, unfortunately, areas where Cody wouldn't have any shot at all.

Damn, he missed Nick.

Murray took a deep breath and glanced at his watch. Again. For the seventh time in the last twelve minutes. The bad guys were ten minutes late. Were they just scoping the place out? Making sure that Murray was alone? Watching the trails to make sure they wouldn't be disturbed?

Murray snapped his fingers, bounced his fists together, tapped his thighs, looked all around and up at the tower. Back at his watch. Eight times in thirteen minutes. Thirteen _and a half_ minutes. He sighed and played patty-cake again.

"Hey!"

Murray turned around so quickly he nearly lost his balance. Coming from the upper trail, BaBa and two men holding a gun on her. Murray looked at his sister. She didn't seem hurt, wasn't tied up. No bruises that he could see. He breathed a small sigh of relief.

When they were about thirty feet away, the three of them stopped. "You come alone?"

"Yes."

"Bring the disc?"

"Yes."

A loud whistle sounded; two more men came out of the trees to the north, pushing Nick in front of them. They roughly shoved him and indicated with their guns that Nick should move closer to Murray.

"Our hero from the alley; thought we told you to come alone, Bozinsky."

Nick answered, "He's not an idiot; did you really expect him to come without any backup?" He sighed slightly with an apologetic glance at Murray.

Murray just hoped that Nick hadn't screwed up the exchange. Then again, his explanation was logical. Maybe the bad guys would expect them to try something like this, and having caught Nick, they wouldn't think to look for Cody.

"Where's your other partner?"

Murray wasn't sure exactly where Cody had hidden himself but knew he was close by. And hopefully had a good view. "If I don't call him by 6:45, he's notifying the police and the press. I decrypted Melba's article and copied the disc. If we don't walk out of here, Cody blows the whistle on the FathomLight Corporation and the plagiarism of Hubie Zaltash. If we show up alive and unharmed, I swear that Melba won't print a word of that article.

"You should consider this: now there are four of us that know the truth. You could kill me, Melba, and Nick…but if Cody doesn't see us in…" he glanced at his watch again, "Twenty-five minutes, he's gonna spill the beans. Your choice."

He could see the four men look at each other. One of the guys holding the gun on Nick seemed to be in charge. He shoved Nick closer to Murray. "Give the disc to Rocky here."

Nick moved closer, and Murray handed him Melba's disc. He noticed that Nick wasn't wearing his sling. His shoulder must be hurting like crazy…but he was more mobile without it. Nick wouldn't meet Murray's gaze as he accepted the handover.

"Yo, Balboa, see the big oak tree? Walk the disc over and set it down on the rock beside it."

Nick finally looked at Murray and pressed his lips tight. He walked slowly to the tree and put the disc on the rock.

"Now, step away."

Nick took only two steps back and shook his head. "Send Melba over to Murray first."

One nod from the man in charge, and the two hoods holding BaBa pushed her in Murray's direction. She moved forward, nerves only slightly noticeable on her face. As she got half way across, Nick slowly backed away from the tree, keeping the bad guys in view the whole time.

Murray was trying to watch all parties, but he had trouble keeping his eyes off his sister. When she got close enough, he reached out and pulled her close. "Are you okay?"

She nodded, "Sure. 'Course I am." She was trying to be her typical, flippant self, but Murray could tell she was barely holding it together.

He started to push her behind him, when he heard, " _Down!_ " and the roar of a gun. Murray ducked and slammed into Melba. She must've been working out because it completely knocked the wind out of him. Almost immediately, another gunshot split the early morning, and Murray tucked in around his sister, trying to keep her covered and safe. He'd half expected that at least one of the kidnappers would decide not to let them go despite Murray's threat about Cody breaking the story. Three dead birds in hand meant there was only one left who could possibly spill the beans.

"Hold it! Don't move!" Cody's angry commands filled the air, and Murray finally managed a sigh of relief. Despite everything, the plan had worked just as they'd hoped.

"Guys? Melba? You okay?"

Murray tried to get up and check on his sister, but a weight held him down. He glanced over his shoulder and saw Nick's red and black plaid shirt. "Get off me, Nick." He pushed Nick away and pulled himself off Melba. "BaBa, are you all right?"

She nodded and buried herself in his arms. He held her close, never so relieved in his life.

" _Guys?_ What's going on over there?" Cody was starting to sound a little concerned.

Murray raised his head enough to call out, "We're okay."

Then a flash of color caught his peripheral vision, and he glanced back. Then he stared, his embrace on Melba slowly loosening. He wasn't seeing what he thought he was seeing. Not really. He couldn't be.

Nick was just…lying there. Not moving. At all. He just lay there where Murray had shoved him a minute earlier. And Murray suddenly understood why he felt like he'd been hit by a train; he essentially had been when Nick pushed both Melba and him to the ground.

"Nick?"

No response.

None.

"Nick. Answer me."

Murray reached out, but was afraid to touch him. If he did and still got no response…

"Oh, no. Nick!" BaBa scrambled over, and her movement snapped Murray out of his trance.

"Cody!" Murray carefully turned Nick's head…and verified that he was breathing. Murray shut his eyes in a grateful prayer. When he opened them, BaBa had moved to Nick's other side and identified a bullet wound low on Nick's back.


	8. Chapter 8

Cody was trying to keep the kidnappers covered and simultaneously find out what was going on with his partners. Although Murray had called out that they were okay, Cody could hear murmurs and unclear exclamations that made him think there was more going on than just a joyous reunion. And he'd heard nothing from Nick…but then, Nick had been unnaturally quiet since the hospital.

There had been two kidnappers with Melba and two who'd rounded up Nick…who'd apparently planned to be at the exchange all along. Cody was completely unsurprised by this, but he wondered how Nick found out where the swap was taking place. Maybe he'd listened to the call on the salon extension and then left before Cody and Boz got the disc copied.

Cody'd had a good view of Melba and her captors when they emerged from the trees, but the men who'd disarmed Nick managed to choose a spot where Cody could see almost nothing. And when Melba hurried across to Murray, she'd unknowingly walked right through Cody's line of fire, delaying any shot he might have at the bad guys. Still, it looked like the exchange would go smooth as silk, but then one of the men that Cody couldn't see had apparently taken a shot. Cody burst out of the trees and put a bullet in the man's leg, yelling for them to drop their weapons. The three still on their feet now held their hands up in surrender.

"Cody!" Murray sounded…scared. Panicked. No other way to describe it.

"Murray, what's going on?"

"Nick's been hit!"

 _No! NoNoNoNoNo!_ Cody took the news like a knee to the gut and tried not to let the panic show on his face. How could everything have gone so right and so wrong at the same time? It was tempting to just let the kidnappers go so he could check on Nick, but that would potentially put them all in danger. "Is he okay? How is he?"

"He's…alive."

Not very reassuring, and Cody was having trouble staying on point; his urge to get to Nick was nearly overwhelming. "Murray! How is—"

Just then a man in running clothes came sprinting around a bend in the trail. He stopped abruptly, "L.A.P.D. What's going on here?"

Cody suddenly realized what the scene must look like: Cody holding a gun on four unarmed men, one of whom was bleeding from a hole in his leg.

Melba called out, "Those men with their hands up, they kidnapped me; my brother and his friends just rescued me, but Nick has been shot. Please help us!"

"You guys got ID?"

Cody wasn't about to dig for his wallet, but he heard Murray and Melba talking to the man. Cody was actively working to _not_ think about Nick…injured…maybe dying. _Damn it!_ Instead Cody concentrated really hard on keeping the kidnappers covered.

In a couple of minutes, the young jogger hurried up, "You Allen?"

Cody nodded, flicking a glance at the man who was holding a police ID.

"The little guy said he'd go for help, loaned me his gun. I'll take over here if you want to be with your friend and the girl."

Cody nodded but didn't lower his gun till the man had the bad guys covered. Once Cody made sure the guy knew what he was doing, he rushed back to his partners.

Nick was lying mostly on his stomach, turned slightly to the right where Murray was bent over him. Melba was on the other side, examining the wound on Nick's right lower back. The red and black plaid shirt didn't show much blood, but Cody knew that meant very little.

Cody crouched beside Murray who scrabbled up to kneel by Nick's head so Cody could get closer.

"Nick? Buddy?" _Dear God, please…_

His best friend's face was ashen under the cuts and bruises from the previous night. He was breathing okay, but it seemed a little shallow and fast. Cody knew how Nick breathed, and this wasn't normal. He wasn't just asleep or passed out. His pulse was steady and pretty even, but again, a little faster than normal. His skin was cool and slightly damp. _Shocky…or just a normal reaction to being shot?_ Was there such a thing as a normal reaction to this type of violent assault?

Cody started to lean closer, get a better idea of his breathing, and his hand came to rest on Nick's back. He suddenly remembered the wound and yanked his hand away, glancing up at Melba's stricken face.

Cody ripped the plaid shirt open to see Nick's back. It looked okay…except for the small, oozing wound low on the right side without an exit that Cody could see. The bullet could have gone anywhere—near his spine or even straight through and out the front.

Murray looked tormented. "He shoved us down, out of the way. I didn't even realize what he'd done because I was pushing BaBa at the same time. We all three went down together. Cody…that bullet would've hit me. He saved my life."

Cody wanted to tell Murray he was wrong, that the shooting was just the job or bad luck or Nick being in the wrong place at the wrong time—like other times they'd been shot. But a glib excuse wouldn't fly with Murray Bozinsky—the man was brilliant after all. Far more likely, Nick had seen the bad guy was about to shoot, and he'd done what was necessary to save his friends. Nick Ryder's self-appointed number one job: protect. Protect, protect, protect.

Melba rubbed Nick's shoulder, "He needs an ambulance. I'll be right back."

"No, BaBa," Murray stared at his sister for a second. "You stay with the guys; I'll get help." He yanked his handkerchief out, then pulled off his coat. "I'll be back as soon as I can."

Cody nodded and pressed the hankie over Nick's wound. Even though it wasn't bleeding all that much, it might help some. "Nick? You with us? Come on back, pal." Nick didn't react to Cody's voice or the pressure, and that scared Cody even more. What if… That didn't even bear thinking about. "Melba, can you help me?"

"Oh, Cody, I'm so sorry. This is all my fault. Tell me what to do."

"Maybe put his head on your jacket? Just make him a little more comfortable?"

She glanced back at Nick then nodded.

In a few minutes, Nick's head was resting on Melba's denim jacket. The young cop called out. Cody showed Melba how to hold the pressure on Nick's back and then covered him with Murray's coat. Unable to do anything else for Nick and feeling completely helpless, Cody hurried back to the off duty officer who was still covering the kidnappers.

"You need a break?"

The young guy shook his head. "I'm okay. How's your friend?"

Cody shook his head, not sure how to answer. "I don't know; he's unconscious. Breathing and pulse seem okay. Maybe a little fast." Cody stole a look back at his friend, but everything looked the same. The whole scene was surreal; how could the world have turned upside down overnight? And again in just the last few minutes?

"What happened here?"

Cody briefly outlined the last twelve hours or so, leaving the man speechless. "That's a pretty outrageous story. Is the King Harbor station aware of all of this?"

Cody shrugged, "Some of it. When these guys called to make the trade, they said to come alone."

"King Harbor could have coordinated with Parker Center. We would have provided backup."

Cody nodded, not wanting to argue with the cop. And now that the whole gig had gone south, Cody worried that the young man was right and maybe Nick wouldn't have been shot if they'd asked for help. Then again, maybe the kidnappers would have sniffed out a police presence and hurt Melba. Who could tell at this point? But if Nick didn't recover, Cody didn't think he'd be able to live with the thought that they hadn't let Joanna know their plans. When the bad guys called the boat, he and Murray didn't even discuss that possibility, figuring to handle it themselves.

Cody hurried back to sit with Nick and Melba, taking his best friend's hand, checking his pulse and respirations again. He'd been shot in the back, but he didn't seem to be in any acute distress. Who was _handling_ the situation now?


	9. Chapter 9

Murray stood impatiently beside the Jimmy in the parking area, waiting for the paramedics. On the half mile trek back to the trailhead, he'd rehashed everything that had happened. It probably would have been faster if Cody came for help, but Murray couldn't bear the idea that Nick might wake up and find Cody gone. Especially after how Murray had treated Nick over the last twelve or so hours. And though he needed to talk to BaBa about what had happened at the helipad and in the alley, Murray was already feeling exceedingly guilty.

True, Melba was Murray's sister, but Nick and Cody were practically brothers to him. And they loved Melba just as they loved him. They loved her… _because_ they loved him. Nick would never knowingly put her life at risk unless there was a darn good reason—Murray _knew_ that. He also knew better than anyone how persuasive his sister could be when she wanted something. Even with Murray, she got her way more often than not. Throw in the factor of an unspecified threat to Murray himself, and Boz could see that Nick would have felt that he had little choice but to do as she asked.

Murray just…he'd just needed someone else to blame when BaBa was kidnapped. Because it couldn't be her fault even though she'd specifically avoided the boat. _And_ her brother. On purpose. Murray recognized all those inconvenient little facts now.

A siren was coming closer, but it couldn't arrive soon enough to suit Murray. Nick might well be dying in Murray's place, and he just couldn't let that happen. Not after everything. He had to apologize to Nick, to make him understand that what'd happened between them since last night wasn't real, wasn't how Murray really felt. He had to _fix_ this. If he still could.

A fire truck and police car screamed into the parking area simultaneously. Two guys jumped from the truck, pulling out gear. "Someone call for help?"

Murray surged forward, "Me! Up at the water tower on Mt. Hollywood, one of my best friends was shot in the back. Please hurry! Oh, and there's another guy up there who was shot, too, but it's just a leg wound."

The paramedics eyed the tower halfway up the mountain. "Let's go."

Even though the first responders were loaded down with equipment, they still made it to the water tower far sooner and in better shape than Murray, but that was okay. Nick needed them now, not Boz. Murray had long ago recognized that physical prowess just wasn't in his genetic makeup, no matter how hard he trained. Simply put, there were anatomic differences in some human specimens that just made them unsuited for athletic activity, and Murray Bozinsky was one of those unlucky people. On the other hand, Nick was physically gifted…and he had used those gifts today to save Murray and BaBa.

Watching the medics work on Nick as the police saw to BaBa's kidnappers, Murray was suddenly struck by the idea that maybe Nick was actually the unlucky one, that he'd chosen fickle-hearted Murray as a friend. Nick wouldn't be in this situation—wouldn't be shot in the back and bleeding and maybe crippled or dying—if Murray hadn't treated him like unwelcome vermin. It also occurred to Murray that the guilt he was presently feeling was a reflection of what Nick had gone through the previous night, with Murray making ugly, hurtful accusations, compounding his guilt. _Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap._ * Murray had never really doubted the veracity of that particular verse, but this was a tough way to prove it true.

Cody checked the clock and stared at the cream colored walls hung with generic pictures usually found at bargain department stores. The furniture wasn't especially uncomfortable, just well-worn from frequent use with cracked vinyl and frayed corners. The surgery waiting room in the hospital where they'd brought Nick was full and getting fuller, probably with people who had scheduled procedures.

Apparently not everybody got up early, went to a meeting, and ended up shot in the back.

Cody, Murray, and Melba had been kept on Mt. Hollywood giving statements for a couple hours after Nick was airlifted off the top. The three of them might still be there now except that Joanna showed up, and after one or two reproachful but still compassionate looks, she'd backed their story completely. And pushed the Hollywood detectives to let them go be with their injured partner and friend. They would probably have to return for follow up interviews after the metro cops completed their initial investigation, but at least they were now at the hospital and would hopefully hear something soon about Nick.

Beside Cody, Murray was holding himself tight, occasionally rocking back and forth. Melba was, by turns, wrapping him in a hug or grasping his hands tightly. He was…devastated. And knowing Murray, he was replaying every word and gesture from the last half day. Regretting them all.

Cody glanced at the clock. They'd been in the waiting room more than three hours at this point, and that was on top of the two hours they'd spent at the scene. Cody just hoped that the long surgery did not indicate seriousness of injury although it was hard to assume anything else. If it was a simple fix, the doc would have been in and out quickly…right? Seemed a reasonable conclusion anyway. If Murray wasn't wrapped in misery right now, Cody would ask him, but this clearly wasn't the time. Be like rubbing salt in a wound, and Murray was already punishing himself more than anyone else could. He and Nick were more alike than they knew.

Cody couldn't stop himself from looking at the clock again and tried not to think about how this might turn out. He'd tried to picture his life without Nick, and it just didn't… He couldn't… There just wasn't… He couldn't imagine that as any kind of reality. So many things they'd done together and been to each other. More than fifteen years they'd been best friends with over a decade in each other's hip pocket…in the jungle, being MPs, on the boat. And now faced with the possibility of a Nick-Ryder-sized-hole in his life…there was no logic in the universe that could make that seem possible.

Another glare at the clock. Each time a surgeon came out to speak to a patient's family, Cody's hopes lifted, but no one called Nick's name. Until finally, a slightly overweight, middle-aged man in scrubs walked in and glanced around the room, "Nicholas Ryder?"

The three of them were on their feet instantly, and they followed the man into a small room off the main waiting area. Cody looked at Murray; he was breathing a little more rapidly than normal, the only sign of his nerves.

"I'm Dr. O'Neal, one of the trauma surgeons. Cody Allen is listed as next-of-kin?"

Cody nodded briefly, tense and nervous. "That's me. And this is the rest of our family, Murray and Melba Bozinsky." A slight flinch from Murray at the introduction.

"I see. Well. Mr. Ryder was shot in an altercation of some type. I'm not clear on the details, and frankly, it's not important right now."

Murray seemed to be working hard to maintain his composure.

"The bullet entered Mr. Ryder's back on the right side just above the arch of his hip. It moved laterally, passing in front of the spinal column, and came to rest in the omentum on the left. That's a long piece of fatty tissue that hangs down in front of the small intestines and colon. During surgery, I removed the bullet and part of the omentum and repaired the local damage."

Cody felt his mouth go dry. "How much damage was there?"

"Relatively little actually. Surprisingly. There was a fair amount of insult to the back muscles, but the bullet missed the spinal cord and didn't get into the pancreas or the spleen. It entered his body below the right kidney and didn't quite get over to the left kidney. However, it went through the small intestine, and it did nick that organ in several spots. I spent the majority of the procedure repairing it. I resected all the areas that I could find that were damaged."

"All you could find?"

"It's certainly possible I may have missed something because the small intestine is about twenty-five feet long, and it just folds in on itself and floats in the abdominal cavity. It's only fixed to other structures at the beginning and the end. The intestines could have shifted around after he was shot, so I may have missed an area that was hit. I did run the entire organ twice, though; I hope I got all the areas where the bullet caused damage."

"So does this mean he'll have peritonitis?" Murray might be upset, but he was able to keep up with the doctor's explanation—one scientist to another. Cody was grateful for Murray's presence and knowledge even if Boz was having trouble dealing with what had happened.

Dr. O'Neal nodded and shrugged at the same time. "It's possible. Maybe even likely considering that it was damaged in at least three separate places. But I did irrigate the abdominal cavity several times to clean any spillage, and we've already started antibiotics to deal with anything that got past me."

Murray licked his lips and took a breath before his next question. "And it missed his spinal cord?"

O'Neal smiled sympathetically. "Completely. He should have no neural impairment. That means no paralysis."

Murray's eyes got suspiciously bright, and he pressed his lips together with a tight nod. He turned away slightly, and Melba moved with him, wrapping her arms around his bent shoulders.

Cody dropped his head in overwhelmed relief before looking back at the doctor. "So he's gonna be okay?"

"There's always a chance I didn't find all the damage, but…I believe he'll be fine. It may be a few weeks, but I think he'll make a complete recovery."

Cody had to fight his own reaction toward grateful tears. After a few seconds, he was able to smile at the doctor, "When can we see him?"

"He'll be in recovery for the next few hours, and we'll be monitoring him for infection in the ICU for a couple days. But I imagine we'll be able to let you see him for a few minutes sometime this evening."

Cody couldn't help his grin, and he stuck out his hand. "Thank you, Dr. O'Neal. We really appreciate everything you've done."

"I'm sorry it took so long in surgery, but I was trying to make sure I got it all. I really don't want to go back in there if I can avoid it."

Murray turned back, his nose faintly red, and Cody knew he'd been crying. "Thank you so much. Thank you. Nick's awfully important to us."

*Galatians 6:7


	10. Chapter 10

It was late afternoon when they finally got to see Nick. Murray followed close on the heels of Cody and Melba as they entered his room. Nick was lying in the hospital bed, his eyes closed, with lots of equipment beeping softly all around. Vivid bruises stood out in stark contrast to his pale skin and the sheets. He looked like he'd been in run over by a train…and Murray felt like he'd been driving the locomotive.

His behavior and treatment of Nick since the previous evening was a torment unlike any Murray had ever experienced. He had many regrets in his life, but few could compare to the levels of hell he'd been through since seeing Nick's unmoving body. After Nick had jumped in front of a bullet meant for Murray. After Murray had treated him like something that needed to be wiped off the bottom of his shoe.

While they were waiting on the doctor, Melba had confirmed everything Nick said about their meeting at the helipad. And everything Murray'd figured out on the boat.

After locating and interviewing the family of the woman who'd actually written the original programming credited to Hubie Zaltash (and obtained her notebooks and journals confirming her work), BaBa had tried over and over to interview Hubie, to give him a chance to comment or refute…but he'd completely refused. She'd hoped that Murray's introduction might carry some weight, but after reading BaBa's article, Murray doubted that he would have had any luck either. And the recent phone call from his former mentor had likely been an attempt to get Murray's assist in finding and quashing the article after the bad guys realized that BaBa didn't have it on hand when they kidnapped her.

Late the previous afternoon, she'd been notified by a sympathetic contact at FathomLight that company management was coming after her, and she'd hit the bricks to find some place safe for herself and the article until it got accepted by the publisher. She said she was unaware that Nick was at the helipad when the cab dropped her off, and she'd planned to hide the disc on the helicopter and leave on foot. Which was exactly what she did…except that Nick was along trying to help.

After the bad guys jumped them and kidnapped her in the alley, they'd confirmed that they'd been following her for a few days. Surveillance was conducted by long range lenses, personal observation, and bugs in her hotel room, and they'd gloated that they'd dropped a tracking device in her bag when she was standing in line for coffee. It only took a short while to verify that Melba Bozinsky had very damaging information that was ready for publication. All of which led to her flight, Nick's beating, Melba's kidnapping, and everything that followed. And ended with Nick in the hospital and Murray feeling like the worst friend in the solar system.

Cody went to the far side of the bed and glanced worriedly at the monitors before picking up Nick's limp hand. "Buddy? You awake?"

Nick's breathing hitched, and his face tightened slightly as he struggled to get his eyes open. They fluttered a few times before his gaze drifted vacantly around the room, still trying to wake up.

With an encouraging smile, Cody squeezed Nick's hand, "Hey."

Nick's eyes eventually tracked over to Cody and held steady. "Hey." His voice was a breath.

"How you feeling?"

"Like…I been in a fight…with Mean Mick. How 'bout you?"

Cody fought a bigger grin. "Not quite that bad. Look who's here."

BaBa leaned over to kiss Nick's forehead. "You _look_ like something the cat dragged in."

Nick fought sleep and tried for a smile, "Hey…this is my macho Conan look…don't ruin it for me."

She smiled and fingered his hair. "Never. Never ever. Next time I need rescuing, you're the first guy I'm calling."

Nick winced slightly and worked on a swallow, "Yeah, well…ya know…I'll do anything for…for repeat business."

She shifted slightly and kissed him gently on the lips.

That got his eyes open again, "That's…pretty good…incentive, too."

She grinned softly and then made room for Murray. Even though he wished she would stay right where she was. Not that he was avoiding what he had to do, but he wanted to make sure he had his self-control in place and knew exactly what to say…

And then he was beside Nick. And his mouth felt like sand-paper. And every syllable he'd previously considered flew completely out of his head.

Nick looked up at him, not trying to avoid or delay what had to be done. No matter what, Nick faced what had to be dealt with. Seemed like Murray would have remembered that. Especially after Cody tried to remind him.

Murray met his best friend's gaze and saw regret and grief. And Murray couldn't let this continue.

"Nick, I— I don't know how to say this. When I found out BaBa had been taken, I… I panicked, and I—Murray swallowed past the huge lump in his throat and fingered the blanket on Nick's bed. He could no longer meet Nick's earnest, sorrow heavy eyes. "I just… It was easier to blame you. I lost my perspective, and I needed someone to be at fault—someone who wasn't my sister who'd avoided me. Who'd been kidnapped. I-I-I know you did everything you could to save her, but I just— I lost my head, Nick, and I couldn't… You see, it had to be someone, and BaBa wasn't here. Neither were the guys who were responsible for the whole mess, but…you were a handy scapegoat. And I just…I just—"

Murray glanced up to see how Nick was taking his pathetic explanation…and found him unconscious again. Murray should have known that this wasn't the time to unburden himself and apologize, but he'd just needed to get rid of this weight so badly. He pulled in a deep breath and tried to contain the tears that wanted to spill over again. BaBa wrapped her arms around him from behind.

Murray pushed up his glasses and rubbed his eyes to stop the waterworks. "I should have waited till he's better. This isn't the time."

Across the bed, Cody pulled up a chair, never once letting go of Nick's hand. "He might have heard a little of it, Boz. Maybe he's resting a little easier."

Murray examined Nick's bruised face. It was relatively tranquil, an expression not frequently found on the usually animated and occasionally volatile Italian. He sighed in defeat, remembering another attempted apology with a different outcome. "You think he just didn't want to hear me say I'm sorry?" But a small part of Murray's mind wondered if maybe Nick wouldn't accept this apology when it was eventually delivered. What if he threw it back in Murray's face?

Cody just smiled sympathetically.

Eight days later, the hospital finally discharged Nick, and Cody and Murray were on hand to drive him home while Melba organized a little celebration back on the _Riptide_.

It hadn't been an easy road. Two days after surgery, they'd received a call in the middle of the night that Nick had spiked a fever, prompting an over-the-speed-limit drive to the hospital and a little more work from Dr. O'Neal in the form of draining an abscess. Cody and Murray were close to panic, but O'Neal said he wasn't really surprised, and that this would just extend Nick's eventual recovery by a little bit if all proceeded as expected.

Nick ended up spending another couple of days in the ICU with a change in his antibiotics, but sure enough, after that little bump in the road, he improved dramatically and began to chafe at being stuck in the hospital. By the end of his stay, his doctors were glad to see the back of him, and even the nurses he'd previously charmed were starting to get a little peeved.

In the meantime back on the _Riptide_ , Murray had turned somber and morose. In desperation, Cody had finally convinced Murray to take some easy cases. They'd done a few background checks for some of their regular business employers. And a couple of lawyers wanted them to confirm that sworn statements and alibis were actually physically possible based on geography and times that crimes were committed. Basically a lot of computer work, phone calls, and some running around. Cody probably could have managed most of it on his own, but Boz needed something to keep him busy. Because he continued to brood, and it was getting worse.

Melba's kidnapping and the recently published article had become a huge media storm. The resolution of the case with Nick's heroic act and very public airlift to the hospital had set off a swarm of reporters, trying to get the scoop that Melba already had. When all the revelations about FathomLight's misdeeds hit the press—Melba's kidnapping, Nick's shooting, and the Hubie Zaltash plagiarism and cover-up—it was even worse than when Murray announced that he was the new owner of King Harbor. And it wasn't just local coverage because this time a Fortune Five Hundred company was involved; people like Dan Rather and Jane Pauley were calling Melba for interviews. And if they couldn't get her, they'd occasionally settle for her famous brother or his one available business partner.

But Cody accepted the cases without Nick on board simply because Boz needed something to keep his genius brain from going in circles, working through endless possibilities for how the entire situation might have gone differently. Cody was tired of coming into the galley for breakfast to find that Boz had been up for hours but had forgotten to drink the coffee he'd made as he just sat and relived that terrible night over and over.

Melba had been a godsend, distracting the reporters with her movie star looks and bouncy personality. The camera loved her, and she quickly became a media darling. Cody wouldn't be at all surprised if she ended up with a new job out of the mess. He could just imagine her being an expert that was called for television commentary whenever some history making event occurred.

And when she wasn't managing reporters, she was working very hard to manage her brother. Since the story had broken, she'd been on the boat pretty much all day, every day, dealing with the press, responding to requests from other researchers, and propping up her brother's sagging spirits. A slew of new guys had appeared—including the off-duty cop who'd helped them on Mt. Hollywood—and Melba had dragged Murray and Cody along on some of her dates. And to Cody's satisfaction, she screwed up her new dates' names with the same frequency that she'd initially messed up his. These days, he was still 'Cory' for sentimental reasons alone. He was pretty sure about that anyway. Even though she still flirted with him shamelessly, he only laughed and teased her right back, knowing it was just her way and all in good fun. Mostly. Regardless, she was Murray's sister, and that was the end of the story.

And Murray played along, going wherever she suggested and pretending he was having a good time, but Cody and Melba could both see that his heart wasn't in it. Just as Cody frequently caught him in the morning, he and Melba had both noticed him staring off into space at the beach and fading out during conversations. Melba had apologized over and over for not coming to Boz in the first place, and he forgave her completely. But as Cody well knew, it was vastly easier to forgive someone else than to forgive yourself.

After Nick got out of the ICU, visiting hours were more relaxed, and when they weren't working or running around with Melba, Cody and Murray were usually at Nick's bedside. Well, Cody was at the bedside while Murray usually poked his head in and then went to the gift shop or the cafeteria to find something to make Nick's stay a little more pleasant. When he was in the room, Murray was quiet and hesitant, unable to settle down for more than a few minutes before he was up checking equipment or finding a nurse or heading downstairs again. Other than tripping over himself to make Nick comfortable and speed his recovery, Murray had otherwise withdrawn. He watched Nick like he expected him to explode, like he might lash out at any second.

With Cody, Nick was mostly the same as he'd been their whole lives together—wise-cracking, sarcastic, playing the dumb jock—but a little pensive. And though Nick was obviously trying to act the same with Boz, he continued to be cautious and reserved. Careful about what he said, how he said it. Checking for Murray's reaction after every statement or question.

Cody had no idea if Murray had tried to apologize again, but from the way they behaved with each other, it didn't seem likely. And it was wearing on both of them. Murray was becoming more tentative with each passing day, and Nick was starting to retreat—even from Cody. And all of it was making Cody frustrated as nothing he'd said to either of them made a dent in the ongoing tension. To his knowledge, the two of them had not yet raised the specter of Melba's kidnapping—at least not when Nick was conscious. It was like they were both afraid of it, worried about what would happen if they eventually brought it up.

Driving them all home from the hospital, Cody mulled over his options. The ride back had been pretty quiet, and the strain in the Jimmy was palpable. Finally, as they were passing Veteran's Park, he jerked the wheel into a parking space and turned off the engine. He looked over at Nick who stared back, a little alarmed at the unexpected stop.

"You okay to walk over to that bench?"

Nick glanced across the park. "Yeah?" Clearly not sure where Cody was going with this.

"Then let's go. The three of us have gotta talk this out."

Cody got out of the truck and jogged around to be on hand just in case Nick was over-estimating his stamina. The two of them started across the grass, and Cody aimed a significant look back at Murray. Who finally dragged himself out of the back seat and across to the bench in their wake.

At the bench, Nick eased down on one end, Murray plunked down on the other, so Cody ended up in the middle. Right where he'd been since the beginning of the whole mess. And they just sat for a few minutes, staring at the other visitors in the park.

Finally, Cody sighed, "Somebody say something."

Nick cleared his throat, "About what?"

"About the fact that you two are on pins and needles with each other. I don't see how we're gonna be able to work like this."

Murray let out a slow breath, "I've been thinking about that, Cody. I think it's time for me to move on."

Cody glanced at him, but Nick did a slow head turn and leaned forward slightly to stare at Murray in disbelief. "Why would you do that? I'm the one who screwed up. I'm the one gotta go."

Murray's face showed utter astonishment. " _You_ did everything you could. I just ignored that fact and blamed you anyway. Nick, those guys beat you unconscious, and all I did was kick you when you were down."

"You had cause. She's your sister."

Cody stood up and moved out from between them.

"Yes, she's my sister; and you're my friend. And in every way but genetics, you're my brother, too. Geez, you stepped in front of a bullet for me. Who but you would do that?"

"Boz, I let her get _kidnapped_. I should've stopped them. We shouldn't even have been in that alley."

"Nick, BaBa put you in an impossible situation when she refused to come to me. It was her bad decision—not yours. And there were four guys in that alley. As good as you are, I wouldn't take odds on four against one, so I think you _letting_ them take her is a little short of the facts. But when _I_ was passing judgment and making accusations, I took none of that into account. I just disregarded any details and problems that didn't fit into the picture I needed to see. I ignored the fact that you love BaBa, too. I just struck out at the most convenient target. You."

"I get that, Boz."

"I don't see how. _I_ don't get it!"

"I don't see how you can forgive me for letting her get taken in the first place."

Murray just shook his head miserably.

Cody folded his arms and cleared his throat. "So let me sum this up: Murray, you forgive Nick for not being able to save Melba from herself and four huge goons, and Nick, you forgive Murray for needing someone to blame.

"But Nick, you don't believe Murray can forgive you for letting Melba get kidnapped, and Boz, you don't think Nick can forgive you for having a completely normal reaction to that fact. Essentially, you can each clear the other of any wrong doing, but not your own selves. Is that about the size of it?"

Nick stared at the grass, and Murray pulled at a thread in the hem of his plaid shirt.

Cody held out his hands in supplication to them both. "Nick, buddy, I know it's been your life-long dream and all, but you're not Superman; you can't save everybody. And Boz, despite the genius brain and everything, you're not God. You're a human being like all the rest of us. With all the messy emotions that go along with that."

He sighed slightly, "You know, that first night at the hospital, I worried if our friendship would survive this. The agency, too, but mostly what the three of us have together. If you guys don't find a way to forgive yourselves for these _obvious_ flaws in your characters, we won't make it."

Murray looked over, "Really, Nick, it wasn't your fault. You've gotta quit thinking that."

Nick stared back, "If you can forgive me, I mean _really_ forgive me, then maybe I'll be able to." He slid a hand toward the middle of the bench, "But if you leave, I'll know deep down, you couldn't do it."

"Nick, I said such terrible things to you. I knew you were upset and hurt, but I just kept piling on more and more. It was cruel." Murray's nose got more red as he spoke.

Nick's outstretched palm bunched in a fist. "She's your _sister_. Not too many people in the world more important than that. Not even a good friend. And I was gonna be all right; her, we didn't know about. You freaked out, okay? I mean, come on. You think I didn't know that?"

Cody nodded, "That's right, Boz. He insisted I go with you that night because he knew how upset you were."

Murray squeezed his eyes shut and finally reached for Nick's hand. Nick returned the grasp as he fought his own tears for a few seconds. He tugged at their grip, "Come on, don't make me slide over there; my back's killing me."

In an instant, Murray and Cody were both helping him off the hard bench, and then the three of them wrapped each other in a hug, sealing their friendship and partnership once again.

After a long moment, they turned to walk back to the Jimmy, arm in arm with Nick in the middle, just in case. Once the three of them were back in the truck in their usual places, Cody looked over at Nick, "You okay?"

Nick nodded after consideration. "Yep." He glanced back at Murray, "You?"

Murray nodded as well, "Yeah."

Cody eyed them both. "And you never said 'sorry', did you?"

Nick's lips twitched.

Murray's shook his head briefly. "Some friendships are good enough, they don't need apologies."

Cody glanced back to see Nick's easy smile and then turned the key to head back to the boat.

End


End file.
